Vehicle wash drying system

ABSTRACT

A drying station for a vehicle wash facility includes at least one rotatable drying wheel positioned adjacent a vehicle treatment area. The at least one rotatable drying wheel has a drying material disposed thereon and which can engage an exterior of the vehicle to remove water accumulated thereon. The drying station includes a beater device disposed adjacent the at least one rotatable drying wheel with the beater device and the drying wheel being engageable as the at least one rotatable drying wheel rotates. As the rotatable drying wheel spins, the drying material contacts the beater device to help minimize its level of saturation.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims priority to U.S. Provisional ApplicationSer. No. 61/449,239, filed on Mar. 4, 2011 and entitled “Vehicle WashDrying System”, which is hereby incorporated by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention generally relates to a drying station for avehicle wash system that provides improved drying performance while alsodecreasing the operational cost to the system operator. Morespecifically, the present invention relates to a drying station for avehicle wash system that removes a larger amount of water from a vehicleexterior without increasing the energy used to achieve this improveddrying performance.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Automated vehicle washing systems have been available for many years toautomatically wash and dry vehicles. Large volume vehicle washingsystems typically include a conveyer for moving a vehicle through aseries of washing and rinsing stations, and finally, through a dryingstation, which serves to remove moisture from the exterior surface ofthe vehicle. Other systems, known as roll-overs, exist for washing anddrying vehicles where the vehicle remains stationary and the machinemoves over the vehicle to perform the washing, rinsing, and dryingsteps.

A variety of different types of drying stations have been employed toremove water from the exterior of the vehicle. One such drying stationemploys one or more dryers, which each include one or more nozzles. Inthese drying stations, the vehicle passes by the dryers, which emit highvelocity air onto the vehicle, to blow water off the vehicle exterior.The dryers can take on various different configurations, can be placedin different locations, and can be oriented in a variety of differentways all to blow water off the vehicle exterior. Additionally, thedryers can be either stationary or oscillating. Regardless of theconfiguration, orientation, number of dryers or their movement, theysuffer from a number of disadvantages, the foremost of which is that asignificant amount of water remains on the vehicle exterior after thedrying cycle is finished. Recognizing this deficiency, vehicle washfacilities often have excess water manually removed from the vehicleexterior, such as with hand towels as the vehicle leaves the washfacility. This increases the cost to the operator as a result of morelabor requirements as well as additional expense associated with havingclean hand towels available.

As a potential solution to this problem, friction drying stations havealso been employed either in connection with or in place of thetouch-less drying systems discussed above. These stations generallyconsist of a rotating wheel having a drying material affixed to arotating shaft. As the shaft rotates, the drying material also rotatesand contacts the vehicle exterior to absorb and wipe away water. Thedrying material typically consists of an artificial leather, shammy, ora very thick fast absorbing synthetic material. Vehicle washes haveutilized these drying materials to “wipe cars dry” after the car haspassed under the forced air dryers. These friction drying stations didnot solve the insufficient drying problem for a couple of reasons.

One reason that these friction drying stations did not worksufficiently, is that the drying material would become oversaturatedafter a relatively short period of time. When this occurred, the dryingstation became ineffective since the drying material could not removeany more water from the vehicle exterior. Additionally, when the dryingstation was used to dry multiple cars in succession, the drying materialcould not dry quick enough to remove a sufficient amount of water. Thus,after drying only a few cars, the problem of insufficient dryingremained. Moreover, as the drying material absorbed more water, moreenergy was required to rotate the wheel, which increased the cost to runthe wash system.

A second deficiency with these prior drying machines is that the dryingmaterial for these friction drying systems can quickly becomecontaminated with dirt. Thus, while the drying machine is supposed to bewiping cars clean through the contact of the drying material with thevehicle exterior, once the drying material becomes contaminated withdirt, the dirt will be transferred back onto the vehicle and can evenscratch the vehicle surface. The previously accepted solution to thislater problem was to have two sets of drying material. When the firstset became contaminated through use, the second set would be substitutedtherefore while the first set was washed and cleaned. This solution wasexpensive and required constant labor and attention to not only cleanthe drying material, but swap the sets of drying material.

It would therefore be advantageous to provide a drying station for avehicle washing system that overcomes these disadvantages.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

It is therefore an advantage of the present invention to provide adrying station for a vehicle wash system that removes a greaterpercentage of water from a vehicle exterior than occurs with priorvehicle drying stations.

It is another advantage of the present invention to provide a dryingstation for a vehicle wash system that removes a sufficient amount ofwater from a vehicle exterior such that no manual drying is requiredafter the vehicle passes through the drying station.

It is still another advantage of the present invention to provide adrying station for a vehicle wash system that has multiple drying stagesto provide increased drying performance.

It is yet another advantage of the present invention to provide a dryingstation for a vehicle wash system that employs apparatus that contactsthe vehicle exterior to effectuate contact drying.

It is a further advantage of the present invention to provide a dryingstation for a vehicle wash system that minimizes saturation of thedrying material or maintains the drying material below the saturationpoint to provide increased drying performance.

It is still a further advantage of the present invention to provide adrying station for a vehicle wash system that employs one or moreadjustable parameters to keep the drying material below saturation.

It is still yet a further advantage of the present invention to providea drying station for a vehicle wash system that includes a cleaningmechanism, which allows for frequent cleaning of the drying materialemployed by the drying station to provide enhanced performance.

It is still yet another advantage of the present invention to provide adrying station for a vehicle wash system that performs a waxing functionconcurrently with the drying function.

It is still yet a further advantage of the present invention to providea vehicle wash facility that yields a drier vehicle exterior at lesscost, without increased energy usage, and with decreased labor costs.

In accordance with the above and the other advantages of the presentinvention, a drying station for a vehicle wash facility is provided. Thedrying station includes at least one rotatable drying wheel positionedadjacent a vehicle treatment area. The at least one rotatable dryingwheel has a drying material disposed thereon and which can engage anexterior of the vehicle to remove water accumulated thereon. The dryingstation includes a beater device disposed adjacent the at least onerotatable drying wheel. The at least one rotatable drying wheel and thebeater device are engageable such that as the at least one rotatabledrying wheel rotates, the drying material contacts the beater device tohelp minimize its level of saturation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a vehicle wash facility employinga drying station in accordance with a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is a front view of a drying station with a drying device disposedin a first position in accordance with a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 3 is top view of a portion of the drying station of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a side view of the drying station of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a front view of a drying station with a drying device disposedin a second position in accordance with a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 6 is a side view of a portion of the drying station of FIG. 5; and

FIGS. 7a and 7b are side view of a portion of the drying station with abeater device moved to a retracted position in accordance with apreferred embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ENABLING EMBODIMENTS

The present invention relates to a drying station for drying a vehicleexterior in a vehicle wash system. FIG. 1 schematically illustrates avehicle wash system in accordance with the present invention. As shown,a vehicle 5 enters a facility 10 at an entrance end 12 and exits thefacility at an exit end 14. Within the vehicle facility 10, the vehicle5 is conveyed through various stations where it is subjected to certainvehicle treatment processes that make up the vehicle wash system. Thevehicle treatment processes preferably includes a rinsing at a rinsestation 16, a washing at a wash station 18, and a drying at a dryingstation 20. It will be understood that the preferred vehicle wash systemcan include any number of other processes, such as waxing, to which thevehicle may be subjected. Additionally, while the vehicle wash system isillustrated as a tunnel-type wash, it will be understood that thevehicle wash system can also be configured as part of a roll over-typewash.

The present invention relates to the drying station 20 of the vehiclewash system. In a preferred embodiment, the drying station 20 ispositioned adjacent the exit end 14 of the vehicle wash system.Additionally, the vehicle wash system is preferably of the tunnel-typewhere multiple vehicles can pass through the wash system in succession.As is known, typical drying apparatus utilized in existing vehicle washsystems include forced air blowers. However, even with these forced airblowers, residual water is left on the vehicle. This is true even if theforce output for these air blowers is increased. While other dryingapparatus have been employed, they similarly fail to provide sufficientdrying of the vehicle exterior. Consequently, to remove this residualwater, vehicle wash systems often employ manual drying as the vehicleexits the vehicle wash tunnel. This manual process substantiallyincreases the cost of washing and drying the vehicle exterior, includingin the form of labor expense as well as the expense to wash and dry thetowels used to manually remove the residual water.

With reference to the figures, the preferred drying station 20 includesa plurality of rotatable drying wheels for contacting the vehicleexterior as the vehicle is conveyed through the drying station 20 of thevehicle wash system. As shown, the drying station 20 preferably includesa top wheel 22 for contacting the top of the vehicle and a pair of sidewheels 24, 26 that engage opposing sides of the vehicle as it is passesthrough vehicle treatment area 28 of the drying station 20. The vehicletreatment area 28 is generally bounded by the frames 40 that support therotatable drying wheels. It will be understood that the drying station20 can include more or less rotatable drying wheels that are designed tocontact different portions of the vehicle exterior, as desired.

As shown each of the rotatable drying wheels includes a drying material32 for removing water from the vehicle exterior with the drying materialbeing secured to a rotatable shaft 34. It will be understood that thedrying material 32 can take on a variety of different configurationsincluding as a plurality of individual strips or as wheels of dryingmaterial. While cloth is the preferred drying material, a variety ofdifferent types of materials can be utilized. For example, a preferredembodiment employs a drying material having the followingcharacteristics: thin, absorbent, flexible, non-lint, durable, andspun-bond. It will also be understood that the drying material canemploy more or less than the characteristics set forth above. Anexemplary drying material is available from Oxco.com. Additionally, therotatable drying wheels preferably eliminate the need for any otherdrying mechanism, such as blowers. However, it will be appreciated thatthe top wheel and/or the side wheels may be employed in combination withother drying apparatus, such as blowers, as part of the vehicle washsystem. Put another way, the drying system of the present invention maybe utilized to enhance existing drying apparatus or may be utilized inplace of other drying apparatus.

It will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that as thedrying material picks up (absorbs) water from the vehicle exterior, itcan become saturated, particularly if the vehicle output through thefacility is high enough. It will be understood by one or ordinary skillin the art that as the drying material contacts the vehicle exterior andabsorbs water, it retains more water until it becomes saturated. Whenthe drying material reaches this condition, it is unable to do asatisfactory job drying the vehicle and only pushes water around on thevehicle exterior. The drying station 20 of the present inventionprovides methods and apparatus to help dissipate water from the dryingmaterial, dry the material and allow it to perform a drying function, asdiscussed below.

A preferred embodiment of the drying station 20 is shown in FIGS. 2though 4, which illustrate a rotatable top wheel 22 in a first positionwhere the drying material 32 is disposed in a position to engage thevehicle exterior as the vehicle passes through the drying station 20.After successive vehicles pass through the drying station 20 and wateris removed from the exteriors thereof, the drying material 32 can becomesaturated, which diminishes its drying ability. To minimize the level ofsaturation, in accordance with the present invention, the water isremoved from the drying material. Specifically, in accordance with oneembodiment, to minimize the level of saturation of water in the dryingmaterial 32, one or more of the rotatable drying wheels can be movedfrom the first vehicle engaging position (FIGS. 2-4) to a secondretracted position (FIGS. 6-7). As shown in FIGS. 6 through 7, when therotatable drying wheels are moved to the retracted position, the dryingmaterial 32 is removed from the vehicle treatment area 28 and cannotengage the vehicle. In the retracted position, the drying material 32 issubjected to a drying process to remove water therefrom to allow thedrying material 32 to continue to remove water from the vehicleexterior.

In accordance with one embodiment, when the rotatable drying wheels aremoved to the second retracted position, they are kept rotating by acontroller, as discussed below. By continuing to rotate the wheels,centrifugal force causes any water maintained in the drying material totravel to its tips and eventually leave the drying material as thespinning continues. The rotational speed of the wheels may also beincreased from the speed at which they contact the vehicle to speed upthe rate of drying of the drying material by increasing the centrifugalforce. It will be understood that in the retracted position, the dryingmaterial may be moved away from the conveyer line along which a vehicletravels. Alternatively, in accordance with another preferred embodiment,the rotatable drying wheel may remain in the first position adjacent thevehicle treatment area and may be rotated at an increased speed when novehicles are present or between vehicles to remove water from the dryingmaterial 42 through centrifugal force.

In accordance with another preferred embodiment, the drying station 20includes a beater device 40 that can be positioned adjacent one or moreof the top wheel 22 and the side wheels 24, 26 to allow for selectiveengagement of the rotatable drying wheel with the device 40. The beaterdevice 40 is preferably attached to the frame 30 and is moveable betweena first location and a second location. The beater device 40 ispreferably an elongated bar or rod and is constructed from a plasticmaterial. The beater device 40 has a length that in one embodiment, isat least as long as the length of the rotatable wheels. However, it willbe understood that the device 40 can be formed of a variety of differentmaterials and be constructed of a variety of different sizes and shapes.

In one preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 4, when the beater device 40is in the first location, it is engageable with the drying material 32when the rotatable drying wheel is in its second position. When thebeater device 40 engages the rotatable drying wheels, as they rotate,the drying material contacts the beater bar to drive or “slap” the wateroff. In this embodiment, when the beater device 40 is in the secondlocation, it is retracted away from the drying material 32 so that therotatable drying wheel can spin freely when in the second positionwithout the drying material 32 contacting the device 40.

In another embodiment, when the device 40 is moved to the firstlocation, the rotatable drying wheel is in the first portion where itcan engage a vehicle in the vehicle treatment area 28. In thisembodiment, the rotatable drying wheel does not need to move to thesecond position to engage the device 40. When the device 40 is in thesecond location in this embodiment, it is also retracted from engagementwith the drying material 32 on the rotatable drying wheel. It will alsobe understood that in another embodiment, the beater device 40 may bestationary and the wheels may be brought into contact therewith. Inconnection with still another embodiment, the beater device 50 isconfigured such that it maintains constant contact with the wheels, suchas opposite their engagement with the vehicle, to continuously expel or“slap” water therefrom as the wheel rotate.

The drying system is preferably in communication with a controller 42,such as a programmable logic controller (PLC) or other computer thatcontrols a variety of different features. For example the controller 42can be programmed to automatically take steps to minimize the saturationlevel of the drying material, such as to cause one or more of therotatable drying wheels 22, 24, 26 to spin between engagement withvehicles or to instruct one or more of the rotatable drying wheels 22,24, 26 to move to a second position away from the vehicle treatment areato either spin or engage the beater device 40. Additionally, the PLC canbe programmed to move the beater device 40 into and out of engagementwith the rotating wheels. It will be appreaciated that the controllercan be programmed to accomplish the functions and features above tominimize the saturation level of the drying material based on certainpredetermined events or triggers.

For example, the engagement of the beater device 40 with the rotatabledrying wheels can be based on the amount of vehicles passing through thevehicle wash system over a given period of time. It will be understoodthat the beater device 40 and the rotatable drying wheel could engageafter each vehicle passes. By way of another example, the draw andcurrent required to rotate the rotatable drying wheels rolls can bemonitored. As is known, as the drying material 32 becomes moresaturated, the surface tension between the drying material 32 and thevehicle increases, which thus increases the current required toeffectuate rotation. Thus, this variable can be monitored and when themeasured draw reaches or exceeds a certain amount, the controller 42 canbe programmed to cause a drying function to be performed on the dryingmaterial, such as the increased rotational speed or beater device 40engagement, as discussed above. In addition to these preferred dryingmethods, others may be employed including subjecting the drying mediumto the output of a forced air blower to blow water from the dryingmedia.

In another aspect, the engagement between the rotatable drying wheel andthe beater device 40 can be accomplished by varying the speed of therotatable drying wheel. While the present aspect is described inconnection with a drying wheel, it will be understood that it could beapplied to one or more drying wheels within a vehicle wash system. Thedrying wheel can be rotated at a first speed when it is contacting avehicle to effectuate a drying function. The drying wheel can be rotatedat a second greater speed to effectuate contact with the beater device.It will be understood that the drying wheel may be kept stationary withrespect to the beater device and only engages the beater device uponrotation of the drying wheel at an increased speed. In accordance withstill another aspect, the drying wheel can be rotated at a third fasterspeed in order to more fully remove moisture from the drying media. Thedrying wheel may be removed from engagement with the beater device 40when rotated at this third speed. It will be understood that more speedsmay also be employed as desired to effectuate different functions.

Moreover, the controller 42 can be programmed such that the rotatabledrying device is spun to remove water from the drying material atpredetermined increments of time. Additionally, the rotatable dryingwheels can be rotated by the controller 42, whenever another vehicleenters the vehicle wash system. It will also be understood that therotatable drying wheels can be rotated at the end or the beginning ofeach business day, as desired. The controller 52 can obviously beprogrammed to actuate in accordance with these and other criteria orconditions.

It will be understood that as the drying material 32 contacts vehiclesthroughout the day, it will tend to accumulate dirt. It is undesirableto have a dirty cloth or drying material contact a vehicle. For example,the dirt on the drying material can scratch the vehicle exterior. Toeliminate this problem, in accordance with the present invention, thedrying material can be cleaned during off hours, such as at night. Toclean the drying material, it is preferable to spray soap and waterthere for purposes of washing it. To accomplish this function, inaccordance with a preferred embodiment, a supply of soap 46 and a supplyof water 48 are in communication with the rotating wheel. The supply ofsoap 46 and water 48 are also in communication with the controller 42.In accordance with this embodiment, when the vehicle wash facility isshut down, such as for the evening, the rotatable drying wheel can bemoved to the second or retracted position. As actuated by the controller42, soap and water are preferably sprayed onto the drying medium 32 asthe rotatable drying wheel is rotated. To assist in the cleaningprocess, the beater device 40 can be brought into contact with thedrying material in order to help agitate it and remove any dirt thereon.Thereafter, the drying material can be subjected to a rinse cycle andthen spun dry to get it ready for the next day. This process ispreferably performed automatically. It will be understood that thecontroller 42 may be programmed to clean the drying material 32 more orless often. Additionally, the rotating wheels can be cleaned in thefirst position or a variety of other orientations.

In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, thevehicle wash system also allows a vehicle to be polished or waxed aspart of the drying cycle. Specifically, the wheels 22, 24, 26 caneffectuate a waxing process concurrently with the drying process. Forexample, a wax could be applied to the drying material 32 of the wheels,such that as they contact the vehicle surface to remove residual water,they may also apply wax to the vehicle exterior and polish it while theycontinue to rotate. Alternatively, the wax can be applied directly tothe vehicle exterior and then contacted by the drying material 32 as thewheel rotates to polish the vehicle. This configuration eliminates theneed for a separate wax station which provides a significant spacesavings and cost savings over prior vehicle wash systems. Because thedrying material 32 is not oversaturated, it can both absorb water fromthe vehicle exterior and also polish the vehicle. The present inventionthus provides an improved vehicle wash and wax cycle.

In one embodiment of the integrated wash/wax feature, the vehicle canfirst travels through the final rinse stage for the removal of washingliquids that remain on the vehicle from the washing cycle of the washsystem. Next, the vehicle may pass through a first dryer stage involvinga plurality of forced air dryers or blowers. These forced air dryerswill remove a large portion of water from the vehicle exterior, howevera residual amount of water will remain on the vehicle exterior. Thevehicle can then pass to another portion of the drying stationconsisting or rotating wheels, as discussed above, which will maximizeremoval of that residual water. Also, a fluid wax can be applied toeither the vehicle exterior or the drying material 32 to polish thevehicle before it leaves the exit end 14. The rotatable drying wheelscan be programmed to be cleaned after each wax cycle in accordance withthe process discussed above.

During testing, the Applicant's demonstrated that the disclosedinvention effectively removed the last 20% of water still remaining onvehicles directly following a 50 HP forced air dryer at a continuousoperating rate of 100 cars per hour without reaching the point ofsaturation. The problem with the dirty drying material was addressedwith a programmable automatic wash cycle that cleans and rinses thedrying material when the carwash is closed. This self-cleaning of thedrying material occurs without any labor or constant attention. The oversaturation issue was addressed with a programmable automatic spin drycycle that dramatically accelerates evaporation in between cars. Bygreatly increasing the RPM of the rotatable drying drying wheels whenthey are not in contact with a vehicle, centrifugal force pushes waterto the outer diameter of the drying wheel. While the drying wheels arespinning at the higher RPMs in a spin dry cycle, in one embodiment, abeater device 40, such as a plastic bar the length of the drying wheels,can be forced into contact with the drying material to fling anyaccumulated water from the outer diameter of the drying wheels. The spindry cycle allows the drying material on the wheel to always remain in astate of absorption and therefore always effective.

Obviously, many modifications and variations of the present inventionare possible in light of the above teachings and may be practicedotherwise than as specifically described. These antecedent recitationsshould be interpreted to cover any combination in which the inventivenovelty exercises its utility.

What is claimed is:
 1. A drying station for a vehicle wash facility, comprising: at least one rotatable drying wheel positioned adjacent a vehicle treatment area; wherein said at least one rotatable drying wheel includes a rotatable shaft and a drying material disposed on said rotatable shaft and which can engage an exterior of said vehicle to remove water accumulated thereon; a beater device disposed adjacent said rotatable shaft; and said at least one rotatable drying wheel and said beater device being engageable such that as said at least one rotatable drying wheel spins, said beater device radially penetrates said drying material to help minimize a level of saturation of said drying material.
 2. The station of claim 1, wherein said at least one rotatable drying wheel is moveable between a first position where said at least one rotatable drying wheel is situated in a vehicle engagement location and a second position where said at least one rotatable drying wheel is retracted from said vehicle engagement location.
 3. The station of claim 1, wherein said beater device is moveable between a first location where said beater device engages said drying material and a second location where said beater device is retracted from said first location such that said beater device does not engage said drying material.
 4. The station of claim 1, where a speed of said at least one drying wheel is varied to effectuate engagement with said beater device.
 5. The station of claim 1, further comprising: a supply of water; a supply of soap; a controller in communication with said supply of water and said supply of soap; wherein said controller is configured to actuate said supply of water to apply water from said supply of water and is configured to actuate said supply of soap to apply soap from said supply of soap to said drying material at predetermined times; wherein said at least one rotatable drying wheel is rotated such that said drying material contacts said beater device to agitate same and effectuate a cleaning of said drying material.
 6. The station of claim 1, further comprising: a supply of wax that is applied to said vehicle or said at least one rotatable drying wheel while located in said vehicle treatment area; and whereby said drying material dries and polishes said exterior of said vehicle.
 7. The station of claim 1, wherein said at least one rotatable drying wheel is a top wheel disposed above said vehicle treatment area.
 8. The station of claim 1, wherein said at least one rotatable drying wheel is a side wheel disposed beside said vehicle treatment area.
 9. The station of claim 2, further comprising a plurality of rotatable drying wheels that are each moveable between said first position and said second position.
 10. The station of claim 2, further comprising: a computer in communication with said at least one rotatable drying wheel to move it between said first and second positions.
 11. The station of claim 3, further comprising: a computer in communication with said at least beater device to move it between said first location and said second location.
 12. The station of claim 1, wherein said beater device is an elongated bar.
 13. A drying station for a vehicle wash facility, comprising: at least one rotatable drying wheel positioned adjacent a vehicle treatment area; wherein said at least one rotatable drying wheel includes a rotatable shaft and a drying material disposed on said rotatable shaft; wherein said drying material is engageable with an exterior of said vehicle to remove water accumulated thereon; a controller in communication with said at least one drying wheel to effectuate rotation thereof at a first predetermined RPM when a vehicle is in said vehicle treatment area; a beater device disposed adjacent said rotatable shaft; and said controller being programmed to rotate said at least one drying wheel at a second predetermined RPM when no vehicle is disposed in said vehicle treatment area; wherein said second predetermined RPM is different than said first predetermined RPM; and wherein said beater device radially penetrates said drying material when said at least one rotatable drying wheel is rotating at said second predetermined RPM.
 14. The station of claim 13, wherein said beater device radially penetrates said drying material when no vehicle is located in said vehicle treatment area.
 15. The station of claim 13, wherein said beater device is an elongated bar that has substantially the same length as said rotatable drying wheel.
 16. The station of claim 13, wherein said controller moves said rotatable drying wheel between a first position where said rotatable drying wheel lies adjacent said vehicle treatment area and a second position where said rotatable drying wheel is retracted from said vehicle treatment area; and wherein said rotatable drying wheel is rotatable at said second predetermined RPM when disposed in said second position.
 17. The station of claim 13, wherein said second predetermined RPM is greater than said first predetermined RPM.
 18. A drying station for a vehicle wash facility, comprising: at least one rotatable drying wheel positioned adjacent a vehicle treatment area; a drying material disposed on a rotatable shaft of said at least one rotatable drying wheel; wherein said drying material is flexible and which can engage an exterior of said vehicle to remove water accumulated thereon; a beater device disposed adjacent said rotatable shaft of said at least one rotatable drying wheel and wherein said beater device and said at least one rotatable drying wheel are engageable as said at least one rotatable drying wheel spins such that said beater device radially penetrates said drying material; a supply of soap situated to be applied to said drying material; a supply of water situated to be applied to said drying material; a controller that is programmed to apply said supply of soap and said supply of water to said rotatable drying wheel and then to engage said drying wheel and said beater device such that said beater device radially penetrates said drying material to effectuate cleaning of said drying material as said at least one rotatable drying wheel rotates.
 19. The station of claim 1, wherein said drying material is flexible.
 20. The station of claim 13, wherein said beater device only radially penetrates said drying material when said at least one rotatable drying wheel is rotating at said second predetermined RPM. 